


Arachnophobia

by AngieImagines



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Gore, Horror, How do I tag?, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Multi, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Rated For Violence, Virus, ZADF, ZaDr, Zim and Dib are kinda friends, and then Zim fucks it up, arachnids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26114080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngieImagines/pseuds/AngieImagines
Summary: Zim creates a virus that will finally wipe out every human on Earth, but when his frenemy Dib is in the wrong place at the wrong time, he is the first to be infected with this new virus. Zim must work to find a cure before Dib's body and mind finally succumb to the virus.
Relationships: Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), GIR & Zim (Invader Zim)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

A petite green alien worked effortlessly in his lab while staring down at his workbench. He was working on his newest diabolical creation, one which he hoped would finally acquire his Tallests praise. One which would wipe out the humans on the planet he was believing to conquer. 

Zim gingerly wiped away the sweat from his forehead with a dirty rag, tossing it aside as he pulled up the protective goggles covering his eyes. Finally. It was finished. He grinned at his marvellous work with a hint of malicious glee.

The virus had finally been completed. The onyx liquid he had created was poured carefully into a glass vial. The liquid, dark on its own, almost seems to steal its surrounding light. To Zim, it was breathtaking. He corked the vile quickly, making sure none of the liquid was wasted. Zim was going to wipe out the entirety of the human race with this single vial, at least that was his plan. Well, almost every human was going to be erased. 

Dib… Zim had almost forgotten about the human he quickly grew fond of over the years. The human was tall, six foot 5 to be exact. Zim would be lying to himself if he said the increased height of his once arch-nemesis didn’t make his spooch ache in a way that sent shivers down his spine. Humans would consider the feelings Zim held for this human, “love”, however, Zim wasn’t one to quickly jump to that sort of conclusion. Besides, loving another species would mean he was defective, and Zim refused to give himself such a horrible title. 

Zim’s thoughts about his human however were quickly interrupted by the sound of a monotone voice echoing throughout the lab. 

“Master, there is an intruder within the base, what are your orders?” 

Zim huffed, waving his hand dismissively. 

“Yes, yes, bring the intruder down to the lab, and be sure to restrain it!” 

The computer seemed to contemplate for a moment before it spoke once more. 

“Are you sure about that? Because-” Zim stopped the computer immediately, glaring up at the ceiling and pointing at it accusingly.

“You dare question the orders of ZIM? Do as I command, I don’t pay you to talk back to me!”

The computer huffed.

“Master, you don’t pay me at all…” it said, but then continued with “but whatever, the intruder has been restrained and is now making its way down to your lab.” 

Zim thanked his computer before shutting off the lights. His ocular implants turned on night vision mode, the invader blinking a few times before his eyes adjusted to the new view. He grinned to himself, calling the elevator as he left the lab. He gave the computer a final command before silencing himself once again. As Zim headed to the upper floors, a grin plain on his face, knowing full well that every molecule of the lab's air was now full of the virus.

\-------------------------------------------------

Zim sat upstairs with GIR, watching whatever was on the TV at the moment. He had no real interest in the pictures being displayed on the screen, simply staring, and waiting, and watching. He had completely forgotten about his newest experiment until the computer finally decided to say something.

“Master, it’s been 6 hours, you ought to check on the human you subjected to your experiment”. 

Zim let out an exasperated sigh, lazily getting up from the stained couch he had been sitting on. He stood there for a moment, stretching his limbs before finally wandering over to the elevator, stepping inside and watching the doors carefully as the finally opened to reveal…

“Dib…?” 

Zim’s antennae were pinned to the back of his head, his eyes going wide as he rushed to the human, stopping in his tracks once he saw the state he was in. Caramel flesh was covered in deep red sores, faint scratches and cuts all over Dib’s arms as he seemed to be trying to claw away at his skin. The human was shaking painfully, a pile of deep, red, chunky vomit sitting in front of him. 

It took a moment for the human to register his name being said, slowly turning his head to face the alien. He looked sick, and Zim could tell instantly that his virus worked. However, his test subject was far from the one he had hoped it would have been. The alien just stood there in horror, a million thoughts racing through his head as the human glared at him. Before Zim could process them though, Dib was on him, his arms pinned above his head as the human nearly growled.

“Zim! W-what did you do to me!?” Dib was breathing heavily, each breath seeming laboured as it shook his entire lanky body. His face had gone pale, his pupils blown as he stared down at Zim. The invader said nothing. 

Dib didn’t have the energy to keep Zim pinned, removing his hands from the thin gloved wrists and scooting himself away from Zim on the floor. He still shook violently, wrapping his arms around himself as if to try and keep himself warm.

“Dib-thing… I…” 

Zim wasn’t sure what he was planning on saying, but whatever it was never even made it out of his mouth as he sat up, staring at his frenemy. 

“I-I thought… this wasn’t…” Zim clenched his fists, shaking slightly 

“It wasn’t supposed to be you, Dib…” 

Dib lifted his head, studying the remorse stamped onto Zim’s face. Dib however felt no guilt. He had every right to be mad at Zim. Whatever he did to Dib was currently making him feel as if he was going to die, but maybe that wasn’t far from the truth. 

“Y-eah? Then what is this for then?” Dib croaked, his voice sounding hoarse. Zim bit his lip, guilt eating away at him. How was he supposed to tell his friend/enemy that he was still trying to take over earth? How would his human feel if he knew Zim had broken their truce.

“Well? I’m waiting, Zim”. Dib said his name with venom in his voice, the guilty feeling in Zim’s chest only growing exponentially. 

“This was my newest plan to conquer this world, Dib… I’m running out of time and my Tallest are growing very impatient. I was going to test out the plan on some random human I happen to come across… I didn’t think… I-I didn’t…”, He growled to himself, suddenly looking angry. 

“You weren’t meant to be here, Dib! If you didn’t come here then you wouldn’t have been infected!” 

Dib’s face twisted into a nasty snarl, standing up on wobbly legs as he glared down at Zim. 

“So what you are telling ME is that you lied to my face about our truce congra-gu-fucking-lations, Zim, you fucking ruined your one shot at finally connecting with someone.” 

Dib began to walk by Zim, his tone full of hate. Zim stood on his PAK legs, stopping him in his tracks. 

“Oh no, you aren’t going ANYWHERE, human… not until Zim finds a way to get rid of the filthy disease within your body!” 

Dib’s eyes turned into slits, pure malice within every fibre of his being. He was so unbelievably angry at the alien in front of him. His one friend, no, the one person he believed to be his friend betrayed him. What else did he expect though? Zim was a cold, unfeeling, monster. He knew that ever since they first met. He couldn’t believe he had hope for Zim.

“Y-yeah, sure, fucking sure. I’m just g-onna s-stand here and let you experiment on me more” Dib spat out sarcastically. 

“You don’t have a choice, human.” 

Before Dib could even react, he felt the stabbing pain of a needle entering his arm. Dib was about to protest before black spots clouded his vision, losing his balance as his body landed on the floor with a loud clunk, unconscious. 

“Computer… bring the human to the observation room”, Zim’s antenna pinned against his head again, turning away from the boy. He couldn’t look at him, especially knowing if he didn’t find a cure soon, his human would be as good as dead.


	2. Chapter 2

Dib finally awoke after what seemed like an eternity, groaning as he opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling. It was blank and white with no seams anywhere to be found. He placed his hands on either side of himself, pushing himself up into a sitting position as he felt the comfortable mattress beneath him. However, he decided to ignore that favour of looking around at his surroundings. 

He was in a cold, clinical room of sorts, with three white walls to either side of him and and at his back, while the wall in front of him was made of what appeared to be a thick layer of plexiglass. Dib was about to stand up before he suddenly felt the overwhelming soreness in his body. He felt like he’d been hit by a freight train. 

Dib felt sick in every sense of the word. He scrambled off the mattress in a hurry, picking a corner to gag in. He dry heaved for a solid 5 minutes before anything came up, and when he finally vomited, it was nothing but bile. Dib wiped at the corner of his mouth with his wrist in disgust, finally noticing the absence of his oh-so-iconic trench coat. A quick glance down at himself confirmed he wasn’t wearing any of his usual clothes. He was in a dull green hospital gown that covered most of his legs, patterned with small white spots. With a pang of unease, Dib felt like he was at the Crazy House for Boys all over again. 

A few minutes passed before Dib finally felt like his legs were stable enough for him to stand. Using the wall as leverage, he shakily stood upright. He stayed still for a moment as he waited for most of the shaking to subside. It took him a short time to finally gather the courage to begin pacing around his new confines. It was hard to ignore the itching and burning of his skin as it was exposed to the air, as well as the pain in his legs with each step he took. However, he managed somehow, making a few laps around the room before he felt like he finally had enough and took a seat on the soft floor. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was waiting for, but when he felt his stomach grumble in disapproval, he finally realized he was waiting to eat.

How long had he been in here? Hours? Days? He wasn’t sure, but one thing he noticed were the sores covering almost every inch of his body. The once-red sores were now black and seemingly rotten. Dib touched one experimentally, feeling nothing but numbness in each angry spot he touched.  
Odd.  
As Dib explored his body, Zim came walking into his lab, and stopped on the other side of the glass. He tapped on it gently to grab Dib’s attention. 

It took some time and effort, but Dib eventually stood up once more before slowly making his way over to the glass and putting his hands on it. He stared at Zim with anger and hurt on his face. Zim looked away guiltily, taking a step back and unconsciously pinning his antenna against his head. 

“I see you finally have awoken, Dib-thing…” Zim’s voice was slightly muffled from the thickness of the glass, but Dib still understood him perfectly fine. 

“S-so… Zim. Are you just going to s-stand there and pretend like nothing happened, or are you going to explain what you did to me? If you haven’t fucking noticed, I look like a freak!”

Dib began to scratch at his skin nervously, though he was almost relieved to do so. His skin felt like fire ants were crawling and biting underneath it, and any amount of touching relieved the sensation, at least a little bit. Dib watched as Zim took out a tablet, jotting a few lines down in Irken before putting it away into his PAK again. Dib scowled at him. 

“Of course. Of. Fucking. Course. What else should I expect from him? Empathy? God, how could I be so fucking stupid? Zim’s a fucking alien! His species isn’t programmed to feel things! He's just a cold, heartless, bastard!” Dib shouted.

Dib wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, mostly just to himself, but when he looked at Zim’s face, he tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut. Did he just say that to Zim’s face? How could he not feel remorseful about that? Sure, Dib might believe Zim to be someone of pure evil, but he had empathy, and he couldn’t truly say that to someone, no matter what. 

“S-sorry…” Dib murmured guiltily.

Zim sighed, his antennae perking back up slightly. “Dib-thing… I can’t… I cannot explain what has happened to you, because for once in his life, Zim isn’t even sure what he has done.” 

He took a deep breath before continuing.

“This virus wasn’t even meant to infect you, for one. Two, the virus was just meant to kill you. These symptoms and effects you are experiencing are highly unexpected…” 

Zim explained what he could to the best of his ability, though by the look on Dib’s face, he wasn’t pleased with this response. 

“Listen, Dib. There is not much to be done at this point. You are the only human who has been infected and Zim needs someone to study these effects on. Regretfully, you are the “Patient Zero”, as your species would call it...”

Dib’s head dropped down, his hair falling over his eyes.

“I don’t believe you”.

Zim glanced at him, perplexed.

“Eh? What are you on about, Earth-smell?”

Dib suddenly banged both his fists onto the thick glass, making it wobble slightly with the force. Zim jumped back, startled by the sudden anger his once-friend was now displaying.

“I DON’T FUCKING BELIEVE YOUR BULLSHIT, ZIM!” Dib roared, his shaking body releasing scattered, laboured, breaths. Zim crossed his arms, tilting his head away from Dib.

“I am speaking nothing but the truth, Dib. If you refuse to believe that and be ignorant, that is simply on you. Now that you are staying in this containment chamber, Zim will be observing your behaviour and symptoms. You do not have a say in this.” 

Zim put his hands behind his back, marching away from Dib as the human banged on the glass with all his might.

“Zim! Get the fuck back here, you asshole! Zim!”

Unfortunately, Dib knew that in the end, his efforts were in vain. Zim wasn’t coming back. Dib turned around, pressing his shaky body against the glass and sliding down it slowly to sit on the floor. He gently hugged his knees to his chest and buried his face into them. 

What am I going to do now?

\----------------------------------------------------

Zim was working on a cure with what he had left of his original virus, concentrating so hard that he was startled by the sound of his computer abruptly booting up and speaking to him.

“Master, I must inform you of the human Dib’s current state of health.” 

Zim stopped what he was doing immediately, setting down his tools and pulling his protective goggles off.

“Yes? What is it?”

“The human Dib has fallen ill once more and has vomited an unknown substance onto the containment floor. Do you wish for me to clean it up?” 

Zim’s eyes widened. He bolted over to the containment chamber, watching as the lithe form of his human subject was curled into a ball on the floor. The sickening sound of dry heaving filled the room, and there were splotches of thick, gritty, black liquid all over the containment floor. The computer was frantically cleaning up what it could manage as Dib seemed to throw up one final time before noticing Zim had entered the room. He pathetically dragged himself over to the glass, resting his hands on it and looking half-dead. 

“Z-im… I don’t know what you did to me… but… god… I am in hell. I-I’m so cold, I-I vomit up everything I eat, and I can’t stop fucking shaking… This is what you wanted, isn’t it? T-To just watch me suffer while I slowly die, huh?” 

Zim got down to Dib’s level, kneeling and putting his hands on the opposing side of the glass with a sigh.

“Look, Dib-thing. I’m sorry… You were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and you got sick because of it. Because of Zim… because of me, you are going to die… but… I-I don’t want that! I need you to understand that I want you to live, Dib! How else are you going to witness the destruction of your planet if you aren’t even here to see it!”

Zim removed his hands from the glass, staring down at the floor as he refused to let tears escape his eyes.

“What's the point of doing anything if you aren’t here…?” Zim mumbled

“Oh yeah? If y-you really wanted to help me, then why don’t you j-just make a goddamn cure?! You created the f-f-fucking thing, I’m sure you can fix it too!” Dib snarled viciously.

Zim growled loudly, slamming a clenched fist against the glass before giving Dib a deadly glare.

“Oh, for the love of the Almighty Tallest! Don’t you fucking understand Dib-Shit?! I can’t help you right now because Zim isn’t even sure what he has done! Do you not realize how much I regret what I have put upon you?!” 

Dib went silent and stone-faced, turning away from Zim and crawling back over to the mattress he originally woke upon.

“Do not ignore me, Dib-thing!” Zim hissed.

Zim wasn’t sure if Dib simply didn’t hear him, or he was just being brushed aside, but regardless, he knew he wasn’t going to get a response from his human. After what could have been an eternity of silence, Zim stood, turning away before loudly declaring.

“We aren’t done here, Dib… I will check back up on you by tomorrow…”

With that, Zim left, leaving a shaking and sobbing Dib alone in his dark cell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my beta, Hitamory! I appreciate all of the amazing suggestions you made for me to help improve this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zim believes he has finally found a way to cure Dib.

Zim had been working on a cure on and off for around two Earth days by this point. His mighty Irken form was finally feeling the effects of staying up all night without so much as sitting down to relax. However, Zim was determined to find a way to cure Dib. He’s a mighty soldier, after all, and he wasn’t going to give up so easily. 

Zim made sure to check up on his human hourly each day, being careful to only feed him bland meals so as to not upset his already churning stomach. In just four days, the alien had already figured out quite a few things about the virus he had created. One of the most concerning aspects of Dib’s physical changes, however, were the strange protrusions and growths that seemed to be slowly inching their way out of the black sores. 

Zim hypothesized that this was certainly the progression of the virus. He was running out of time, and Dib’s inevitable fate was coming quicker than expected. He shook his head, clearing his mind of those thoughts. He had a cure to create, and he wasn’t going to let some silly negative thoughts distract him from the task at hand. 

Dib, unfortunately, was allowing his thoughts to consume him. He sat alone in the dark cell, incessantly picking and scraping away at his flesh with blunt nails.  _ Fuck _ , his skin burned so bad. It didn’t help that whenever his hands ghosted across his arms, he could feel the strange bumps that had grown out of his sores. Needless to say, he was scared. Scared of the unknown, and terrified of the idea of dying. Dib didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on these thoughts though, as the lights flickered on and prompted Dib to turn around and face his green-skinned captor once more. 

Dib scooted his way over to the glass wall, staring at Zim with dead, glassy eyes. 

“So,” Dib croaked, “How goes finding a cure?”

Zim frowned, a rather blunt statement leaving his lips.

“Not well…I have yet to figure out enough about your condition to properly identify the materials and tools needed to fix this. Zim will have to study you further in order for me to finish version 1.0 of the cure”. 

Zim refused to meet the human’s gaze, keeping his head down and his arms folded behind his back. 

“Well that’s just great, Zim,” He bit back sarcastically, “We don’t even  _ KNOW _ how long this thing is gonna take to actually, ya know,  _ kill _ me!” 

Dib furiously scratched at his skin again, groaning in pain as he finally drew blood.

“Cease your scratching Dib-filth! You are only making this worse for yourself!” Zim snapped.

“I-I can’t! It burns!” Dib cried out, a small sob leaving his throat.

Zim sighed. “Computer, the pain medication, please”. 

Dib cracked open his eyes, watching as a small bottle dropped before him from the ceiling.

“Take these pills when the burning of your skin flares up. It should help stop you from constantly mutilating yourself.” Zim stated rather flatly. He wanted nothing more than to roll his eyes at the pathetic display, but he knew better than to do that.

Dib shakily opened the bottle of pills, taking one without hesitation. While he was normally one to question anything Zim had to offer him, Dib was quiet, not a single peep leaving his mouth even after he had swallowed the pill. 

Zim had noticed it the moment Dib had been infected: the human was slowly but surely losing himself. He didn’t act quite right any longer, and it didn’t just concern Zim, it made his heart ache as well. If he didn’t find a way to cure Dib quickly, he risked losing him for good. 

“I must return to my work, Dib, but Zim shall be back to check up on you at a later time”.

With that, the lights in Dib’s chamber went out once more and Zim disappeared from view.

Dib curled up on the floor, his body nothing but a small, shaking ball as his mind took over once more.

\-----------------------------------------------------

_ Finally! I have it!  _

Zim carefully studied the cure he had just finished preparing, double-checking his calculations before he smiled and made his way to Dib to tell him the good news. 

Dib jumped at the sudden sound of a finger tapping on the glass wall, pushing himself up into a sitting position to see Zim giving him a genuine smile. 

“Dib-thing!” Zim chirped brightly, “I believe this is it!” 

The Irken held up a syringe full of a translucent grey liquid. Dib’s eyes widened, his weak body rushing over to the glass as quickly as he could. He planted both hands on the glass, staring up at Zim with hopeful eyes.

“I-s that w-what I think it is?” Dib questioned.

Zim nodded, his smile never once leaving him. Dib watched as Zim gave a single command, for the computer to take the needle. A small hole opened up just above Dib, a metal arm along with the syringe coming down and swiftly poking Dib in the arm. The plunger was pushed and Dib eyed the liquid carefully as it entered his bloodstream. 

Zim and Dib waited patiently for the cure to take effect, the odd pair simply staring at each other in the meantime. 

After some time, Dib opened his mouth to say something, but the words died on his tongue and he hunched over in pain. A cry of pure agony ripped free of his throat along with a large amount of black fluid. Zim watched in horror as the sore-like protrusions on the human’s skin grew exponentially, the strange limbs now moving of their own accord. 

Dib looked up at Zim, his eye twitching. 

_ Was his sclera always that dark in colour? _

Zim didn’t have time to think about Dib’s new appearance as the human shakily stood, running over to the glass and slamming his body against it. He did this a few times in quick succession, Zim watching with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. 

“C-computer!” Zim ordered, “Restrain the human and knock him unconscious!” 

Four metal arms burst from the ceiling, wrapping around Dib’s limbs tightly as a fifth injected him with a clear serum. Dib- no, that  _ THING _ writhed against its restraints, growling loudly as black ooze dripped from its lifeless eyes. Zim didn’t know what to say. Did he somehow just make the virus progress more quickly? Zim didn’t have time to answer his own question though; he watched the human go limp, the only movement in Dib’s body being harsh, laboured breaths. 

Zim couldn’t bear to look at Dib for another moment. He turned away quickly and sprinted towards the elevator, tears freely flowing from his vermillion eyes. Sobs wracked Zim’s body every few seconds as the alien allowed himself to cry freely. 

The guilt ate away at him like acid. Zim watched as his bright pink tears dripped onto the elevator floor, barely even registering the door opening in front of him. 

Zim was running on auto-pilot as he slowly inched his way to his pale pink couch, curling up into a ball and sobbing like a smeet.

“Why you cryin’ master?” GIR asked, his cyan eyes staring up at his master confusedly. 

“GIR...” Zim croaked, “Go play outside…” 

The SIR unit’s eyes flashed red for a moment as he saluted, then he started giggling wildly as he zipped the front of his doggie suit up. He ran outside, leaving the front door wide open.

Zim couldn’t even be bothered to close it as he wrapped his arms around himself, allowing the dam to break as he whimpered helplessly. 

_ How am I going to fix Dib now?... _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to my amazing beta reader Hitamory!

Zim had been sitting in front of the glass with Dib, the two unmoving and not even humouring the thought of glancing at each other. Dib looked awful. His entire body had grown mottled with dark patches, the black sores barely standing out against his flesh any longer. His deep grey eyes were unfocused as he lifted a spoonful of tasteless cereal to his mouth. 90% of it went into his mouth while the other 10% spilled onto the floor. 

Dib had gotten significantly  _ worse  _ since Zim had tested his new cure. The bug-like legs that stuck out of Dib like wooden stakes twitched on occasion. Dib looked…  _ alien,  _ and it made him more uncomfortable than he could have ever imagined. The two hadn’t even bothered to so much as speak a word to each other, and Zim was the first one to finally break the overbearing silence that had fallen over them.

“Dib… I’m trying. Zim is  _ trying _ to fix this, to fix  _ you.  _ I need you to understand that, human.”

Dib sighed, setting his bowl down. He looked up at Zim with wet eyes, translucent black dripping from them. 

“I-I know Zim… I know. B-but… I don’t want to die. I-I can't stop thinking about how my fate might be inevitable. I-If I don’t make it through this… then what are you going to do?...” 

Zim bit the inside of his lip, not wanting to consider the possibility of losing Dib.

“Well, thankfully enough for you, it will not come to that, Dib-thing! Zim is sure of that!” 

Dib smiled at Zim sadly.

“W-well, you never know, Z-zim. Sometimes… s-sometimes you just can’t fix everything.” Dib kept his smile, but Zim frowned deeply.

“Zim is not going to allow his worst enemy to succumb to such a pathetic fate! I will be sure of that!” Zim snapped.

Dib laughed to himself, turning away from Zim as he crawled away with his cereal, eating it in another corner of the room entirely. 

Zim huffed indignantly, walking out of the containment area and back to his lab.

He had his notes to study. 

\-----------------------------------------------

**Day 1/2:**

The Dib-human has fallen ill due to a virus I had created to wipe out the human race. His symptoms are clear. 

-Burning and itchy skin.

-Black sores covering the body

-A black substance being vomited up by Dib (upon further inspection, this seems to be his blood. Concerning, will have to check on this at a later date).

Dib complains of symptoms similar to either that of the flu or common cold. Sores seem to be spreading further on the human’s skin. They appear larger. Dib’s skin also appears to be paler and darker. The veins of Dib’s eyes have also turned black, his state is… disturbing to Zim.

**Day 3/4:**

The human has gotten worse. Medication has been given to him to stop the incessant scratching Dib seems to be doing. New symptoms have arisen.

-Black growths have been drawing themselves out of the sores on Dib’s body

-Dib complains of a constant feeling of nausea, 80% of the time, it leads to vomiting. 

-Dib’s eyes have been leaking a translucent black substance, he appears to be crying without feeling the emotion that generally is the cause of crying

Day four has come and I believe Zim has finally figured out how to cure Dib-thing! 

Oh Tallest, what have I done,  **_WHAT HAVE I DONE?!_ ** That was no cure, that was worse than anything I could have calculated. I need to find a cure  _ now _ . If I fail to cure Dib of his ailment soon, I will lose him. 

\-----------------------------------------------

Eight. It had been eight days since Dib had been infected. Zim was currently sitting under his lab counter, sobbing freely and letting his cries echo throughout the lab. Despair couldn’t even begin to describe the overwhelming sadness he felt. His heart felt like it had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. 

_ I can’t do it. I can’t. _

“I can’t fix him!” Zim wailed to himself, yelling loud enough for his voice to echo off of the indifferent walls. Zim curled into himself, tightly hugging his knees to his chest as he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. The pain was hardly a distraction anymore. His tears refused to stop flowing.

How could Zim possibly be strong right now? How could he possibly even fathom being happy when he just realized that Dib was going to die, and his death would be all Zim’s fault. Zim let out a hiccuping sob, his claws digging deep into his green flesh as fresh magenta blood dripped freely from the cuts. 

_ This is fucking awful. _

“Master, your alarm for checking up on the human has been going off for about 5 minutes now”.

Zim’s antenna perked up, finally picking up on the shrill whine of a timer going off. He banged his head on the underside of the counter as he leaped to his feet, cursing as he rubbed at the sore spot. Zim turned the alarm off in a hurry, wiping at his eyes furiously to clear the tears from his eyes before he went to check up on Dib.

He slowly walked over to the containment cell, watching a dead-eyed Dib lay on the mattress. His condition was absolutely abysmal at this point. The various claws and limbs that have grown out of Dib were currently scraping at the wall, leaving horrible gouges in their wake, and Dib’s skin, once a beautiful tan colour, was now nothing more than a dark, ashy beige. 

His honey-brown eyes were slowly losing their life, and his sclera had finally been taken over by the blackness of his blood.

He looked like a monster, and the very thought of Dib turning into that rabid beast again made Zim’s stomach turn. He was  _ scared _ . For once in his 160 years of life, Zim was feeling genuine  _ fear _ .

He was about to lose Dib, and he didn’t have the heart to even let his companion know.

Dib finally noticed Zim standing by the glass and began to drag his weak and sickly body towards it. He sat in front of Zim, looking oh-so-hopeless. Zim fought back tears as Dib smiled gently at Zim. Dib was losing himself to the disease, and the little shred of him that was left barely made Zim feel any better. Zim wanted to have hope. Hope that maybe, just  _ maybe _ , Dib would come out of this alive. 

“H-hey, Zim…” Dib gasped out, his smile never fading. Deep down, Dib knew something was up, but he wanted to be strong for Zim. 

“Hello, Dib-thing. How have you been feeling today?”

Dib sighed as he listed off his symptoms. “S-strangely…better, actually… less s-shaking and uh…” Dib seemed to lose his train of thought, blinking in confusion before looking back up at Zim and smiling.

“H-heh… what were we talking about just now?” Dib frowned when he saw Zim turn away, writing things down on his tablet. 

“Z-zim…” Dib pressed on.

Zim reluctantly turned to face Dib, gripping his tablet with enough force for his claws to leave small dents behind. “Yes, Dib?” Zim said in an oddly calm voice.

“I-If I kick the bucket… d-don’t blame yourself… alright?” Dib croaked, that same sad smile on his face.

Zim looked horrified for a moment before his expression changed completely.

“Be grateful you have Zim, Dib-thing. Zim will not allow you to die like this! I shall find a cure for you, I promise that much”. 

_ But… I’m lying... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, when the next chapter rolls around, you guys are gonna hate me :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib finally learns the truth.

Zim let out a deep guttural growl, his tightly clenched fists slamming down onto the table below him in rage. How.  _ HOW _ ?! How could he possibly be this  _ foolish _ ?! He wasn’t going to be able to create a cure, especially not on his own. 

He was smart, he _ knew _ that, but even he wasn’t smart enough to undo the virus. He had no idea what was even  _ happening _ to his human. With that in mind, Zim had finally realized that this had all been in vain. 

_ There was no point in making a cure in the first place. _

Hot tears poured from Zim’s eyes, and he clenched his teeth with a choked sob. He was going to lose Dib, and he had belatedly realized that it was all his fault. He was the one to blame for Dib’s approaching doom. 

Dib was in immense pain ready to perish and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Zim wiped the tears away as Dib’s alarm finally went off again. He decided then and there that there was no more hiding this. Dib was going to find out sooner or later that Zim had lied, so he might as well just rip the bandaid off at this point. It would hurt less than continuing to lie to the deteriorating mind that now made up what was left of Dib’s personality. 

\--------------------------------------------

Zim took slow and small strides as he made his way over to his companion, trying his best to delay the inevitable pain he was going to go through just telling Dib of his failures. 

_ This isn’t fair… _

Zim stopped in front of the glass wall, hands behind his back as he greeted Dib casually. Dib just smiled, his hoarse voice far too strained to properly greet him back. Zim’s spooch clenched up at the very sight of Dib. It was now day 10 of the virus’s progression, and Dib was almost unrecognizable. 

His hair was greasy and matted, his cowlick draped over his face. Stray hairs stuck to sweaty ash coloured skin, and his honey-brown eyes nearly glowed against the black of his sclera. The once bright and energetic Dib was now nothing more than a weak monster. 

Dib could barely control his feral outbursts anymore and so Zim was now monitoring him 24/7. It was only a matter of time before Dib was no more. Zim was snapped out of his thoughts suddenly when Dib’s voice broke the silence that had fallen between them. 

“I-I… take it… you couldn’t… cure…” Dib stuttered out, long pauses in between every few words. A short wheeze and Dib took in a lungful of air, breathing out before continuing, “couldn’t… find a cure…” 

Zim looked upset with a hint of something else in his eye that Dib couldn’t quite place. 

“No… I have not. However, human, Zim is still working on the cure. It won’t be long now”. 

Zim turned his head away from Dib at the lie.

“C-cmon… Zim it’s… fine…” A shuddering breath, “I-I’ve already... accepted my fate…” 

Zim was holding back tears now.

_ But I haven’t… _

“I refuse to accept this, Dib-stink! I refuse to give up! I-” He stopped himself. What was he going to say? He couldn’t keep up this facade. Dib was already well aware of the truth at this point. 

Zim’s body shook as he dropped his knees to the floor, gritting his teeth and hugging himself tightly. Sharp claws dug into the sleeves on Zim’s uniform as thick pink tears spilled from the Invader’s ruby eyes.

He was having a breakdown in front of Dib, someone he never expected to show these sorts of emotions to. Here he was though, freely sobbing, antennae pinned against the top of his head. 

Zim glanced at Dib, the boy’s face showing a look of concern rather than pity. 

“Z-Zim?...” Dib whispered, placing his hand on the glass.

“Z-” Zim paused before stating, “ _ I _ ... can’t fix you…”

Dib gave Zim a sympathetic look, putting his other hand on the glass and watching as Zim did the same.

“It’s not fair!...” Zim wailed, a hiccuped sob leaving him as his glossy eyes gazed into the other boy’s. 

Dib gave Zim a sad smile, his eyes now wet with tears as the two cried together. 

This was going to be one of their last days together. Neither of them was ready to say goodbye. 

“I-I… know…” Dib said with some difficulty, “b-but… like I-I said… you can’t fix… e-everything…” 

Zim sobbed harder at those words, curling up into himself as he cried. Dib kept his hands on the glass, wanting nothing more than to break through to comfort his frenemy. 

Zim furiously wiped at the neverending stream of tears rolling down his cheeks, his face flushed a bright fuschia with shame and embarrassment. 

“H-ey… wherever I’m going… I’ll be okay… Zim…” 

Zim never thought about the idea of human religion. The idea that people would go to the seemingly fictitious worlds above and below depending on their actions in life was bizarre, but at the moment, the idea was somewhat comforting. Maybe when he finally lost Dib, he would go somewhere nice…

“F-filthy human!” he pressed on, “The entire point is that Zim doesn’t  _ want _ you to go anywhere! I want you- no, I  _ need _ you here with me! Without you, Zim is  _ nothing _ !” 

Zim admitted this out loud, his eyes widening as he went to cover his mouth with a gloved hand. 

“I… I’m nothing without you, Dib…” 

Dib let out a breathy chuckle, his eyes still spilling black tears as the two stared into each other eyes. “I’m… sorry, Zim…”

Zim put his hands back onto the glass, savouring the idea that he and Dib were touching through the wall. 

The pair simply just sat there, crying their eyes out together as they shared the emotions they so desperately wished they had more time to show the other.

\--------------------------------------------

By the time Zim had finished crying, it was almost certainly night. Dib had fallen asleep on the floor in front of him, his resting face no longer bringing comfort to him.

He didn’t look like Dib, not anymore.

Zim knew that by tomorrow, he likely wasn’t going to wake up and find Dib in the cell anymore. He knew that what was going to be there was only a small remnant of what he used to be. 

Dib wasn’t human now. Zim had come to accept that, even if he cured him, he was never going to be the same Dib he knew and loved. The likelihood of him being able to fix the severe mental and physical changes was low, and now, Zim had thrown in the towel. 

_ This is it… this is goodbye… _

Zim thought, curling up onto the couch next to a sleeping GIR, letting the numbness finally set in. 


	6. Chapter 6

Zim awoke hours later on the couch to the sound of GIR screaming happily at the TV. He was watching god-knows-what as he giggled and shrieked at the screen. 

Zim got up shakily, knowing full well that he wasn’t prepared to go and see Dib. He didn’t know what he was going to find, and if he were honest with himself, he didn’t  _ want _ to find out either. 

After some time and a lot of reluctance, Zim finally dared to stand up, calling an elevator and stepping inside shakily. 

He wasn’t ready. He knew deep down he was never going to be ready to see the corpse of his enemy, but now that reality had finally set in, he felt sick to his stomach. 

Zim took small and careful steps towards the containment room, making sure every moment lasted as long as possible. He was delaying the inevitable.

As soon as Zim walked into the room, however, he froze, his already wide eyes growing impossibly larger as he gawked at what was in front of him. 

Whatever was in there now wasn’t Dib. It was a monster. 

Zim covered his mouth with a gloved hand, whimpering behind the rubber as he stared up at the beast before him.

The monster that took over Dib’s body was grinning wide at Zim, hands pressed up against the glass as his other appendages twitched and writhed. Despite having known this was Dib’s fate, Zim was still horrified.

_ He _ let this happen…

“Z-im… let… Out...” The creature choked out barely above a whisper. Its smile never faltered as it continued to speak to Zim, voice hollow and emotionless as it smiled. It was more than a little unnerving. 

“Z-Zimmm~” It taunted, watching with lifeless eyes as Zim dropped to his knees and wailed, slamming his fists into the glass. 

“Tallest-damn it all! W-why did you have to do this to me, Dib?! I-I could have saved you… I could’ve…” He paused before whispering “I could have made it up to you…” 

When Zim looked up again, the creature stared blankly at him, its smile gone. His lip trembled. He couldn’t deal with this, not now.

Zim slowly got up, turning away from Dib and walking with purpose. He wasn’t going to stand for this. He was going to fix his human, no matter what it took. 

\------------------------------------

Zim focused hard on the blueprints in front of him, every little detail being drawn and labelled accordingly. Every stroke of his pencil was purposeful and angry, though his anger wasn’t directed at anyone by himself.

_ He _ let Dib get infected,  _ he _ ignored his computer's warnings,  _ he _ stupidly threw together chemicals in hopes that they would somehow fix Dib. Zim was stupid and blind, and he refused to accept the truth--the truth that he wasn’t going to be able to do anything with this virus on his own.

He needed help from someone smart, but the only human on earth who would even come close was Professor Membrane. He was by far the smartest scientist Earth had to offer, but even so, Zim couldn’t just barge into Membrane Labs and demand his help.

From what Dib had told Zim in the past, he was a busy man who barely had enough time to even visit his children. He was Zim’s only hope though, especially now. 

Zim made one last stroke on the blue paper, looking over all the information he could before he finally decided the design was complete. He looked over his work happily, but that quickly changed once a blaring alarm began to shriek in his ears. 

_ “Warning, the specimen has broken out of containment!” _ The computer declared loudly, red lights now flashing throughout the base. 

Zim ran towards the containment chamber in a panic, stopping as soon as he saw the shattered glass littering the floor. A glance around the room confirmed that Dib was no longer there. He tore through the lower levels of his base, searching desperately for the monster he had stupidly left to its own devices.

But as quickly as they started, the sirens stopped, lights going back to normal as if nothing had ever happened. Zim looked up at the ceiling cautiously, stuttering out, “C-computer... where is the Dib...?”

“The human Dib has left the base, whereabouts are currently unknown.” 

Zim was panicking now. If Dib wasn’t here, that meant he was out in the world once again, most likely wreaking havoc on the oblivious city.

He haphazardly threw on his disguise, not caring about how crooked his wig looked as he dashed out his front door. Leaving GIR to his own devices, Zim’s tunnel vision was locked solely on the task of finding Dib.

It didn’t take long before Zim found his trail. Dozens of random citizens were sprawled out on the ground, black ooze leaking from various wounds all over their bodies. 

The trail of unconscious humans eventually led him to a very familiar place.

Hi-skool.

Zim ran inside the building, busting the double doors wide open. He was horrified by what he saw. 

Dozens upon dozens of students were writhing on the floor, their bodies riddled with black sores. Crimson stained the linoleum floor in patches, splatters of the red substance also covering the walls and lockers. 

_ Has Dib done all this?  _

His question was quickly answered as he heard a blood-curdling scream from down the hall. He snapped his head in that direction, watching as the beast towered over a helpless teenage girl. One of its many appendages ready to strike its prey.

“ _ D-Dib-thing _ !” Zim yelled, making the creature stop in its tracks. It turned its head towards Zim, that same emotionless grin plastered on ashy flesh. Sudden unbridled fear overtook Zim as the creature stared, turning its entire body to face him as it quickly made its way over to Zim. 

Zim snapped out of the sudden trance he was in, darting away in the opposite direction. The beast followed suit, calling Zim’s name over and over again like a mantra. 

Zim nearly froze on the spot, but he refused to let his legs fail him. He continued to sprint down the never-ending halls until he came to an abrupt end. There was nothing but a window in front of him. Zim only had two options to consider as he turned to face Dib, watching as its speed increased. 

Just before the monster was ready to strike, Zim dodged, covering his head with his hands as he heard the glass shatter followed by a muffled thud. 

He crawled over to the window, peeking outside at the unmoving body splayed out on the grass. A black puddle was now forming under it, the creature’s black limbs now twitching furiously as they tried to pick up the broken and battered body off the ground. 

Zim watched in horror as the mangled husk of Dib lifted itself off the ground, the limbs growing out of its back and legs stabilizing it before it scurried off in the direction of Dib’s home. 

Zim’s PAK legs sprung out of their shell, easily allowing him to slip out of the building as he chased the feral beast. 

By the time he reached the Membrane house, the door was wide open, an eerie silence taking over the world around him. 

He cautiously walked over to the door frame, peering inside at the various spatters of black and red blood all over the walls.

He knew what he was about to find wasn’t going to be pretty...

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my wonderful beta reader, Hitamory!


End file.
